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UPDATE: Four people killed in Gulfstream crash were company employees, officials say

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

In a news release sent out Saturday afternoon, Gulfstream officials confirmed that the four people killed in the crash of a G650 in Roswell, N.M. were company employees.

Gulfstream Aerospace President Joe Lombardo gave the following statement in the e-mail:

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who were lost."

“We are cooperating 100 percent with the investigation,” Lombardo is quoted as saying.

The crash occured about 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the plane went down shortly after taking off from Roswell International Air Center. The G650's landing gear collapsed, Lunsford said, and the plane burst into flames.

The luxury jet still is in flight-testing mode and has not been approved to go to market. Savannah-based Gulfstream has more than 200 firm orders for the G650, which carries a price tag of $64.5 million. Company officials said in February that there was a waiting period of five years for the plane, and the first G650 was expected to be delivered in 2012.

Introduced in 2008, the G650 is Gulfstream's longest-range, highest-speed, largest-cabin jet to date.